The Real Harm from One-Sided Narratives: Response to RGS Assessment Questions |
|---|
|
By Iris Koh  My Fellow Rafflesians, I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Iris Koh, founder of Healing the Divide. Recently, I discovered there was an exam question involving me and my advocacy work in one of your assessments. It is with a heavy heart that I express my profound disappointment in how my alma mater, Raffles Girls' School, has approached this matter. I graduated with the class of 1992, the only batch that never got to study at the Anderson Road campus. Our years at a temporary school in River Valley, attending classes in rooms without doors and without modern facilities, were some of the most formative of my life. Despite the humble surroundings, those years were filled with joy. We enthusiastically attended classes and CCAs, with teachers giving us the freedom to think independently, lead, and form deep friendships. Sometimes, less truly is more. We grew up without the internet or ChatGPT and studied the old-fashioned way, through hard work and perseverance—a process we called “mugging.” This not only helped us learn key concepts but also instilled in us the value of persistence. Entering RGS was a humbling experience for me. While I was the top student in my primary school, I quickly realised that everyone here was just as smart, if not smarter. This environment taught me humility and the importance of striving to be my best. Given this backdrop, you may understand why it deeply pains me to see Raffles Girls' School potentially presenting science as a political issue under the guise of "education." True education should be grounded in facts and the scientific method. If RGS wishes to uphold its reputation as the top girls' school in Singapore, it must focus on facts and scientific integrity, not hearsay evidence. It must ensure that its students are looking at the original source materials—such as my videos—and not merely commentaries or second-hand interpretations of these source materials. Recently, I discovered that an examination question about me and the medical freedom movement I started, Healing the Divide, was included in a Raffles Girls' School assessment. While it piqued my interest to see my work being referenced, I noticed that the sources provided to the students were inaccurate and incomplete. In light of this, I wish to offer additional sources—Sources C, D, and E, F, G — to enable students to answer the question accurately. I also hope to encourage Raffles Girls' School to educate its students with comprehensive and balanced information rather than one-sided government narratives. As an alumna of RGS, it deeply concerns me to see the standards of my alma mater have declined in this regard. It's possible that the teachers were unable to access diverse source materials and had to rely solely on information from the Ministry of Health and mainstream media outlets. However, they could have reached out to me before setting the question. I now give them a chance to rectify this error before I consider further legal actions to protect my rights. To properly evaluate Mill's Harm Principle, it is essential to examine information directly from the source materials rather than relying on commentaries or second-hand interpretations. Mill's Harm Principle rests on the premise that the information I have provided is causing harm to society. However, I have yet to receive a single POFMA notice — Can you really POFMA science? Science is not a matter of governmental decree or popular opinion; it is based on verifiable, repeatable facts. John Stuart Mill also highlighted the dangers of silencing opinions in his work "On Liberty": “The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.” Therefore, silencing my perspective not only violates the principles of free discourse but also deprives society of the opportunity for truth and understanding, even if my view were to eventually be proven incorrect. And isn't education ultimately about the explorations of different perspectives and not the authoritarian declaration of "facts"? This brings me to Lesson No. 1 in Advocacy: The Real Harm of One-Sided Narratives. Incomplete or biased information carries significant consequences and distorts our understanding of the world. It is even more disheartening that Raffles Girls' School, which prides itself on academic excellence, may be misrepresenting my work. This behaviour contradicts the very principles of truth and integrity that RGS should uphold. Due to the potential misrepresentation of me and Healing the Divide, I am considering the difficult decision to pursue legal action. I am calling on the teachers and management of Raffles Girls' School to cease the use of this exam question or to provide the complete source materials necessary for students to answer the questions accurately. You are welcome to provide this link for the complete presentation of Source Materials to answer the question fully. Failing to do so may result in potential legal actions from me to safeguard the integrity of my work and the works of the doctors whom I represent. It is concerning that the top secondary school in Singapore—my alma mater—has chosen to potentially misrepresent me and my work rather than engage in genuine scientific discourse. 2+2 does not equal 5, and popularity cannot substitute for actual scientific dialogue, which is what an educational institution must be about. I have faced countless challenges regarding me and Healing the Divide over the past three years. Now, I am considering legal actions to address these issues and ensure that education remains true to its purpose. I write this letter with a heavy heart but also with a resolute spirit. True advocacy is about standing up to propaganda, distortions, and organizations that may have forgotten their true purpose—In the case of RGS, it is to educate and not to spread government propaganda. I implore Raffles Girls' School to return to the principles of true education, rooted in facts and integrity. In the meantime my rights are fully reserved. I write because I care. I speak because my voice matters. I want to tell you that your voice matters too because as long as we choose to ignore the facts, civilisation will decay. Who are we if we do not seek the truth? Who are we if we silence those who risk their name, lives, and careers to sound the alarm to save the human race? This article and my work are more than a response to an exam question; it is a call for you to be beacons of hope in a cold, dark world, refusing to accept the falsehoods told to you by the adults around you, and to honour the voice in your heart that yearns for the serenity of truth. I pray that you find the curiosity to seek out these answers, the courage to believe in your discoveries, and the faith to know that humanity will find a way out of this darkness together. Filiae Meloris Aevi, Iris Koh
Founder of Healing the Divide Editor's Note: Photos of Source A are provided below; as of this writing source B's exact contents remain unknown. Sources C to G can be accessed via https://healingthedivide.cc/2024/07/15/rgs/.   This post first appeared on the blog of Iris Koh on 15 July 2024. It is reproduced with permission. |
|
YOU MAY WISH TO READ: Just how safe is Covid-19 vaccination for young children? My daughter experienced heart issues after getting her 2nd COVID-19 vaccine jab My son suffered a severe reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine |
